Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam announced on Wednesday that it will start the construction of the new entrepreneurial pavilion, VU StartHub, a sustainably built pavilion that combines entrepreneurship, innovation, and education. The university wants to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour among its students, researchers, and staff as much as possible.
In the pavilion, aspiring entrepreneurs will be offered a place for inspiration and guidance to realise their business ideas. Preparations for construction will start this month and the pavilion is expected to open in mid-2022.
What is VU StartHub about?
VU StartHub is a pavilion on the VU campus where entrepreneurs will be offered help and support every step of the way – from getting inspired, developing a business idea and fine-tuning the proposition to officially starting their company and stimulating business growth.
To showcase entrepreneurship, VU StartHub will organise various events to attract the entrepreneurial talent of the university, such as Pitch moments and a Student Startup Competition.
Additionally, the Amsterdam Startup Launch will also be held in February. It will be a program of 11 interactive sessions in which aspiring entrepreneurs can transform their idea into a concrete business plan supported by experts and alumni of the university.
The VU StartHub will accommodate nearly 50 startups and will help them grow their business guided by the VU network and team, the alumni mentoring pool, and business partners such as Roland Berger, Deloitte, EY-VODW, Van Doorne, Pfizer, IQVIA, GrowthFactory, and GoldenEggCheck.
The Pavilion
The VU StartHub is being developed by the Facility Campus Organisation in collaboration with the team of VU Entrepreneurship & Impact. The pavilion will be led by director Hans Drenth, who has been appointed to boost entrepreneurship within the VU.
Speaking on the development, Drenth says, “The StartHub welcomes all VU entrepreneurs with a promising business idea and a Chamber of Commerce registration. This applies to students, researchers, employees, and recent alumni. In addition to getting office space, the VU StartHub members have access to a wide network of experienced entrepreneurs, of the university and within its community. I can’t wait for it to open.”
The pavilion is being built at the campus square at the Boelelaan in Amsterdam. It will consist of approx 1,000 m2 divided over two layers, and will be created from ‘refurbished’ construction units, including green roofs and solar panels – meaning that the pavilion can be moved and disassembled. This choice was made because of VU’s core values: sustainable, diverse, and entrepreneurial.
It has been designed by architect Proof Of The Sum and the construction will be executed by Jan Snel. Preparations for construction will start in January 2022 and VU StartHub is expected to open in the summer of 2022.
Here are the types of membership (ex VAT) that it will offer:
- Resident membership: permanent office – €480 p/m (16 m2) or €1.125 p/m (32m2), starting Q2 2022
- Flexible membership: use of flex desks – €100 pp/p/m, starting Q2 2022
- Virtual membership: €150 p/m per startup
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